Buffalo Bills hire Joe Brady as new quarterbacks coach

The Buffalo Bills have hired former Carolina Panthers offensive coordinator Joe Brady as their new quarterbacks coach.

With Ken Dorsey taking over the reins for Brian Daboll as offensive coordinator, the Bills quickly found his potential successor in the young, brilliant football mind of Joe Brady.

Background

Despite his lack of success under Matt Ruhle in Carolina, Brady has assembled an impressive resume. After playing four years as a wide receiver at William & Mary, Brady was hired as a linebackers coach at his alma mater, William and Mary.

After spending the 2013 and ‘14 seasons with the Tribe, Brady moved on to Penn State as a graduate assistant. During his time in Happy Valley, Penn State won the Big Ten Championship.

In 2017, New Orleans Saints head coach Sean Payton hired Brady as an offensive assistant. In his two seasons in New Orleans, the Saints were in the top eight in the NFL in total offense according to the football database.

For his next stop, Brady stayed in Louisiana and became the passing game coordinator and wide receivers coach for the 2019 LSU Tigers, one of the greatest college football teams of all time.

Led by former Heisman Trophy-winning, number one overall pick, and current Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow, Brady mentored the likes of Justin Jefferson and Ja’Marr Chase in one of the most remarkable national championship runs in recent memory. He received the 2019 Broyles Award, given to the best assistant coach in college football after that season.

Brady then followed former Baylor coach Ruhle to Carolina to be their offensive coordinator, but this stop proved to be his least successful in his coaching career to date. Despite his prior accomplishments, Brady didn’t click in Carolina. According to ESPN, the Panthers offense did not rank higher than 21st in offensive rankings, including 30th overall in 2021. Brady was fired before the season’s end.

Why he’ll do better here

Now, Joe Brady is the new QB’s coach under Sean McDermott. But despite his lack of recent success at the NFL level, I think this is a good fit for both sides.

While at LSU, Brady worked directly with Burrow during a season where he broke almost every record imaginable. Now, Brady gets to work alongside Bills star QB Josh Allen, who has cemented himself as one of the best in the game. While Burrow and Allen may be two very different players, working with the league’s best shouldn’t be too difficult.

Where I think the Panthers went wrong was throwing Brady into such an important role at a young age. While he did have an impressive resume, I don’t think he had the necessary experience to be the offensive coordinator for an NFL team. 

Another red flag was Carolina’s lack of depth, especially at quarterback. Brady and the Panthers rotated through a handful of signal-callers, including Teddy Bridgewater, P.J. Walker, Sam Darnold, and Cam Newton. Poor quarterback play plus an inexperienced coach led to some pretty poor results on the field.

Still, Brady is an excellent offensive mind who has worked with some of the game’s best. And now, he will work with a competent quarterback. I won’t be shocked if he finds his way into a similar position in the near future. Hopefully, Joe Brady will help the Bills and Allen make the 2022 season one to remember instead of another disappointment. 

Disagree with what I said? Tweet at me! @RubinsteinPete on Twitter.

• Stats courtesy of the football database and ESPN
• Report courtesy of NBC Sports